Textile machinery cleaning apparatus



Aug. 23, 1938. w. B. HoDGE TEXTILE MACHINERY CLEANING APPARATUS Aug. 23,1938. w. B. HoDGE 2,128,207

TEXTILE MACHINERY CLEANING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 19:8

. l v n E no L Patented Aug. 23, 1938 amarti TEXTILE MACHINERY CLEANINGAPPARATUS William B. Hodge, Charlotte, N. C., assignor to Parks-CramerCompany, Fitchburg, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationMay 23, 1938, Serial No. 209,545

6 Claims.

'This invention relates to a cleaning apparatus.

for textile machineryy such as spinning frames, drawing frames and thelike, and more especially to that system which will direct draughts ofair to all portions of the machine to remove lint and foreign substancestherefrom.

Heretofore various devices have been employed for removing lint andother substances from textile machinery. It has been common practice to10 direct blasts of air downwardly upon the creel board, drawing rolls,and thread board, of the spinning frames, and thereby remove the lintfrom the upper side thereof. The portions of the frames which were notsubjected to the draughts 35 of air were not cleansed, and consequentlythe lint would cling to portions of the machinery below the threadboard. This defect in cleaning is particularly noticeable in the lowerportion of textile machines where many shafts, rods and cylinders arepresent to obstruct the downwardly directed draughts of air from thecleaner which is usually disposed thereabove.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a cleaningsystem for textile machinery comprising means for producing a pluralityof draughts of air which are directed upon opposed sides of the membersof the textile machine to thereby expose all surfaces to the necessarydraughts for cleaning purposes.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus forcleaning textile machinery comprising the combination of a travellingcleaner disposed above the textile machine for directing draughts of airdownwardly, a plurality of fans disposed in the lower portion of themachine, and adapted to direct draughts of air longitudinally of themachine, and in the direction that the cleaner is travelling, togetherwith a suction outlet disposed at the remote end of the textile machinefor collecting the dust and lint removed from both sides of the textilemachine, by the upper and lower fans. By locating one fan above themachine and another below, it is evident that the draughts from therespective fans will converge upon opposed sides of the members of themachine and thereby cooperate together in directing this lint to asuction opening, which will withdraw it from the room. This suctionopening is partially assisted by the normal excess pressure within theroom in whichthe textile machine operates. It is a well known fact thatthe pressure within thev room, under normal working conditions, is inexcess of the outside atmospheric pressure, consequently there will be atendency for the room pressure to force the room air into the suctionopening and thereby supplement the work of the suction fan.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for encasingthe lower sides of spinning frames and the like and leaving air inletsat the top and bottom of the encasing means, and providing fans disposedwithin the encased portion of the machine for blowing lint from thelower portions of the machine, together with suction means communicatingwith the upper surlo face of the door beneath the machine, so that wheretravelling cleaners are used above the ma chine,` the lint which fallsonto the iioor in the aisles will be drawn beneath the machine andremoved by the suction means, and also the lint 15 which passes from theupper part of the machine, into the lower encased part of the machine,will be effectively removed from the portions of the machinery.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a sectional viewthrough the oor of a building showing in elevation a spinning frameembodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 2.--2 in Figurel;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3 3 in Figurel;

Figure 4 is a schematic plan view showing the present invention employedin combination with a plurality of textile machines.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral i0 indicatesthe floor of a building upon which is mounted a textile machine such asa spinning frame I I, said frame comprising end frames |2, intermediatesamsons I4, creel boards I6, sets of drawing rolls I1 and I8, ring railsI9, bolster rails 20, and cylinder 2|. 'Ihis cylinder is secured onshaft 22, the ends of which are journaled in end fra-mes l2. Suitablepackages of yarn 25 are mounted on the creel boards from which it isdrawn between rolls I1 and I8 in the form of strands 26, after which itis spun upon otherpackages 2l. Each package 21 is mounted upon a spindleassembly 28 which in turn is secured in bolster rail 20. Rotary motionis imparted to package 2l by means of a tape 3|, which tape is alsomounted upon cylinder 2|. 0 I'he above enumerated parts areconventional, but it is deemed necessary to disclose this much of theconventional structure in order to more clearly illustrate the utilityof my present invention. 55

As heretofore stated, the yarn which is being processed allows much lintand loose particles to be dropped therefrom and upon the framework ofthe machine. Some means must be provided for removing this lint in orderto prevent batches of this lint from accumulating upon the framework anddropping into the processed yarns, and thereby create a defectiveproduct. 'Ihis lint has been removed with a great degree of success by atravelling cleaner such as disclosed in my prior patent, No. 2,011,763,issued on August 20, 1935. This patent discloses a cleaner casing suchas indicated by 35. which has spouts 36 leading from the lower sidethereof for directing blasts of air downwardly onto the top of the creelboards I6 and other portions of the textile machine. The casing 35 issupported by wheels 31, which are mounted upon tracks 38 and 39, saidtracks being disposed above a textile machine and supported by posts 40which posts also support the creel boards I6.

By referring to Figure 4, it is seen that the trackway is continuous andis adapted to move over a plurality of spinning frames Il. As heretoforestated, it has been found that a cleaner such as shown on a trackwaydisposed above the machine fails to provide the necessary currents ordaughts of air to remove the lint from the lower members of the machine.As a matter of fact the lower portions of the machine, that is, theportions disposed below the board 24, do not receive any draughts of airfrom the travelling cleaner; consequently the lint which once attachesitself to this surface remains in position until it becomes so heavythat it will eventually fall onto the floor or other portions of themachine.

In order to create the desired draughts of air in the lower portion ofthe machine, I have secured a pair of semi-circular bands 45 around thecylinder 2| at spaced intervals, each of said bands having a pair of fanblades 46 extending radially therefrom. When these blades are properlysecured to the cylinder at the desired points, the rotation of thecylinder will direct blasts of air longitudinally of the machine and inthe same direction as the direction of travel of the fan casing 35. Itis seen that the fan in casing 35 will cooperate with the blades 46 onthe cylinder 2| in directing the waste from the machine in a commondirection.

The cleaning of the lower portion of the machine has been found to bemuch more effective when the lower portion thereof is encased.Therefore, suitable sideplates 48l haye been secured to the opposedsides of the textile machine, by means of screws 49, each side platehaving a plurality of doors such as designated by reference character 50secured thereto my means of suitable hinges 5I. 'I'he upper edges of thedoors 50 are adapted to abut against a longitudinal strut 53 and areheld in a latched position by means of suitable latches 54. The lowerportion of the side plates 48 have adjustably se- 'cured thereto aplurality of plates 55 by any suitable means such as screws 5E. Thescrews 56 penetrate slots 51 in each end of these plates and hold thelower edges of the plates a short distance above the floor level. 'I'hisprovides a slot 58 through which the dust and lint which has fallen uponthe oor and in the aisles between the machines may be drawn by thesuction created by a fan 60. The fan 60 has an inlet pipe 6l leadingtherefrom which is connected to opening 62 in the :door HI. When thisfan is in operation the air is drawn from the opening I 62 and throughthe fan from vwhenceit is expelled through its outlet 63.1 The action ofthevv fan 60 is supplemented by the normal excess atmospheric pressurewithin the room during the period that the machine is in operation, andthis normal excess pressure helps tofdirect the lint to the opening 62.When it is desired to dofl!v packages 2l it is only necessary to unlatchthe doors 50 by operating the latch 54 after which the door can berotated to dotted lline position as shown in Figure 3. This not onlywill allow the packages 21 to be dotted but will alsoy serve' to giveaccess to the lower portions `of the textile machine.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the.

machine from a point substantially level with,

the roll stand board to within a'. short distance of the bottom of themachine, a plurality of fans mounted on the cylinder for creating draftsof air moving towards one end of the machine for removing lint and otherparticles from the portions of the machine disposed below the roll standboard, and suction means communicating with the interior of themachinefor withdrawing removed lint from beneath the machine and forcreating an inwardly moving draft from the exterior of the machine tothe interior thereof through the slots appearing below the lower edge ofthe encasing means to thereby cause lint and other particles on thefloor adjacent the sides of the machine to be drawn beneath the machineand into said suction means.

2. Apparatus for removing lint and other particles from the lowerportions of spinning frames and the like, comprising sheet membersclosing the sides of the machine and leaving slots at the top and bottomportions of the machine, a cylinder extending longitudinally of themachine,

.a plurality of disk fans mounted on said cylinder for creating draftsof air moving longitudinally of the machine.

3.y Apparatus for removing lint and other particles from the lowerportions of spinning frames and the like, comprising sheet membersclosing the sides of the machine and leaving slots at the top and bottomportions of the machine, a cylinder extending longitudinally of themachine, and a plurality of disk fans mounted on said cylinder forcreating drafts of air moving longitudinally of the machine, and asuction pipe communicating with the interior of the machine for removingfrom the interior of the machine the lint and other particles dislodgedfrom the lower portion of the machine by the drafts of air created bysaid fans.

4. In a spinning machine and the like, a framework, a plurality ofdriven disk fans disposed within the lower portion of the machine, meanssubstantially enclosing the lower portion of the machine and providingslots near the top and bottom of the machine, and suction meanscommunicating with the floor level on which the machine is located forremoving oating lint from the interior of the lower portion of themachine l and for also creating an inwardly moving draft of air towithdraw lint from the oor spaces on each side of the machine beneaththe machine and outwardly through said suction means.

5. In a spinning machine having a framework comprising enclosed endportions, a. creel board, a roll stand supporting board substantiallyenclosing the top of the machine at a point below the creel boards andalso having drawing rolls and spindles and a longitudinally disposedcylinder having belts thereon for driving the spindles, plate memberssecured to the sides of the machine and extending to within a shortdistance of the floor on which the machine is disposed and having theirupper edge extending to a point substantially the height of the rollstand supporting board, a plurality of fans mounted on :said cylinderfor creating drafts of air moving towards one end of the machine todislodge lint and other particles from the parts of the lower portion ofthe machine and for moving longitudinally of the machine any lint andother particles entering the lower portion of the machine through theopenings at the top of the plate members, a suction pipe having itsintake end disposed at the iioor level at one end of the machine towardswhich the drafts of air created by said fans are moving to remove Ifrombeneath the machine the lint propelled by said fans and also to drawbeneath the machine, below the lower edges of the plate members, anylint which may be disposed on the floor on each side of the machine.

6. A spinning machine having its sides enclosed and provided with slotsnear the top and bottom portions thereof, a plurality of fans disposedwithin the enclosed machine for creating drafts of air moving towardsone end of the machine, and asuction pipe having its intake end disposedlevel with the floor for withdrawing lint from the interior of themachine and creating inwardly moving drafts of air at the bottom and topportions of the machine for drawing into the machine and outwardlythrough said suction pipe, lint which may be disposed adjacent saidopenings.

WILLIAM B. HODGE.

